My school counseling-intern and I were tasked with facilitating social emotional lessons on the topic of Social Justice, which can be a challenging subject to discuss with elementary age students. We identified that art would provide an impactful way for students to express their thoughts and feelings on this topic.

Lessons took place in all K-5th grade classes. We incorporated various books in the lessons such as Those Shoes, Maddi’s Fridge and Boys Don’t Fry. The objective was for students to define Social Justice, identify examples of Social Justice issues and explain the importance of Social Justice in a community. Students were given the prompt “What does Social Justice mean to you?” They were given watercolors, permanent markers and oil pastels to create a poster. Some of them created really cute art pieces using shrinky dink paper. I had never heard of shrinky dink paper and learned about it in
the AWBW training. I am so glad that I did! The students and I absolutely loved it! It also brought back fond childhood memories for one of our teachers.

My favorite shrinky dink art piece was made by a 5th grade student who wrote on her creation: “Different humans but still humans, different planets but still planets”. Students used the creation time and art to express what Social Justice issues are important to them. They were able to analyze Social Justice issues through a book read-aloud. Sometimes students think Social Justice is only about fairness in the classroom, but our students were able to provide examples about how this topic relates to their community and beyond.

I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to educate students about this topic through art! I’m grateful to AWBW for hosting this training and empowering me to incorporate art as a tool in our work with students, an opportunity that is often only afforded to Art Therapists. The teachers and I were truly impressed with the students’ and their creations.